The figure seems enormous. In an email, sent before an official statement from the Public Prosecutor’s Office was made, Caritas announced that it had filed a complaint for misappropriation of funds on 16 July, for an estimated amount of €60m.

It's huge because it amounts to the organisation’s total annual financial resources: €57.3 million euros, according to the 2023 annual report approved without reservation by Grant Thornton auditors on 13 May. According to RTL, "the electronic transfers sent from Luxembourg to a Spanish bank over the last six months amounted to individual sums of between a quarter and half a million euros". According to the broadcaster, which was first to report on the case, the funds involve the indirect activities that Caritas carries out on behalf of the Ministry for the Family, Education and Cooperation.

According to 100.7, the transfers took place while the director general was on holiday, and he became aware of them on his return.

The Luxembourg public prosecutor's office announced that it had immediately requested that a judicial investigation be opened into the charges of forgery, fraud, breach of trust, domestic theft, computer fraud and money laundering. The Criminal Investigation Department was tasked from the outset by the investigating magistrate, who directs the execution of the investigative acts. The judicial authorities are working with the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Asset Recovery Office (BRA) on this case.

This is obviously a disaster for the 240 employees of the not-for-profit, which is close to the church and fights against poverty, disease and social challenges in Luxembourg and in many other places in the world.

In a statement, the government said: "The government strongly condemns any misappropriation of funds, an action that is all the more disturbing when it occurs in an entity that works every day on behalf of the most vulnerable and deprived populations in our country. The government is in close contact with the managers of Caritas Luxembourg in order to identify solutions that can ensure the continuity of activities in favour of the most deprived people in Luxembourg. In addition, the State reserves all rights to take appropriate measures in the light of developments.”